Tales of the Five Lions
by Cheetoy
Summary: Before the universe knew of the Lions that formed Voltron, there were the Five Mystical Lions of Arus.  Here are the tales of the lions that inspired the mighty robotic lions.


Before the Robotic Lions of Arus where made, there was the Five Mystic Lions of Arus.

There was Li-ten the Black, Phi-air the Red, Wha-tah the Blue, Wha-heen the Green and Er-thean the Yellow. Each had their duty to maintain the Elements within their power. Each has stories to tell.

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><p>The Duty of Wha-tah.<p>

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><p>In the time before man walked Arus, there roamed 5 Lions on a world freshly made. But the Lions did as they pleased. The young lion Wha-heen would chase anything and everything about. Er-thean slept almost day and night and made things hard to grow. Phi-air took delight in making lava shoot into the sky and would always try to chase Wha-tah when he could. Wha-tah spent her time trying to fix the mess Phi-air would make and running about when there was nothing else to do. Li-ten would sit upon the great rock, watching it all with a mope on his face.<p>

The Grand Spirit felt that this would not do. So It called out to Wha-tah one day; "What-tah, as lone lioness, I charge you with the duty of picking an Alpha male. One who will forge this young world into a strong world that shall shine like a star." Wha-tah pondered this task. "Why hand me such a thing?" she muttered to herself. "I need no mate and I rather play about."

To which she did. She ran with Wha-heen chasing leaves and what was left of flowers in almost every direction till she tired. Watching the young green lion continue to chase, she could not stop to mutter "How fast is he. There is no way I can follow someone like that." And off she went to where Er-thean was last seen sleeping.

The large yellow lion was flat on his back in a large pile of rubble. Wha-tah walked up to him nuzzling his face in hopes that he would wake up. Instead, Er-thean reached out with his giant paws and rolled over onto Wha-tah. "Er-thean! Er-thean wake up!" She cried out. "You are crushing me!" Er-thean cracked his eyes open just a bit. "Oh, Wha-tah… So nice to see you," he replied. "Sorry about that. Is there something you want?" Crawling out from under his massive frame, "I wanted to see if you would play with me," she squeaked. "Is that so? I hope you are quick my lioness," He said with a chuckle. "Or I'll squish you." And though she could dodge and leap about with the great yellow lion, he got her more than she could get him. The ground would always shake as he landed, causing her to lose her balance. His massive arms kept tagging her hard and causing her to bruise. Soon it was too much for her. Er-thean chuckled as the poor blue lioness struggled to find a place to rest. "I warned you," he called out to her. And with that, the massive lion went back to his favorite spot and promptly fell asleep.

Wha-tah crawled to a spot near the great rock. She could see Li-ten's paws dangling from the edge. She wondered why he sat there. "It is all he does," she proclaimed with a spat. At least the rock was good for some shade. But as she started to close her eyes to sleep, Phi-air came bounding up from behind her. "Hey there Wha-tah! Tag! You are it," he yelled as he pounced her back legs. "Phi-air, please let me be. I'm tired and I'll play with you another time," she cried. Phi-air thought for a moment. He did not like to be told no. So he bounced around her, causing lava to fly about. Wha-tah moaned at Phi-air's impatience.

A roar bellowed from up high. "ENOUGH!"

Phi-air and Wha-tah were shocked to hear a strange voice. It was Li-ten. Li-ten had never spoken to any of them before. He had always just sat on his rock. Looking up they could see that he was standing high on his ledge. "Wha-tah has been playing all day Phi-air," he bellowed. "If you are too impatience to let her sleep, then I'll play with you."

Before Phi-air could react, the black lion threw he body into the red lion. Wha-tah was shocked to see Li-ten doing anything other than sitting on his rock, but grateful as well. She dragged herself to the top of the rock to watch the two lions wrestle as she drifted to sleep.

It seemed that Li-ten and Phi-air fought for days. Each day, Li-ten pushed Phi-air away from Wha-tah. They fought so hard, it woke Er-thean from his sleep. He did not go back to sleep as they passed by him. Even Wha-heen stood still to watch the two lions wrestled and from the rock, Wha-tah saw it all. Li-ten continued to push Phi-air back till he chased Phi-air to his favorite lava pool. "Have you had enough Phi-air," roared Li-ten. "Come now, I have yet to tire of this game."

"Please Li-ten, let me be," the red lion begged. "I yield… for now."

Li-ten snorted and made his way back to his rock. He snorted again to see his spot taken by the blue lioness. "Do you not have some duty Wha-tah?" he said with a gruff.

"What duty do you speak of Li-ten?" she replied. Li-ten looked at her and laughed. "We all have some duty or another. Yet I saw the Great Spirit give you some task. What is it?" he asked, looking carefully at her as he settled next to her. Wha-tah mumbled as she stared at her paws. Li-ten sighed. "Be happy you have a task," he told her. Wha-tah was stunned to hear him say this. "Why should I be happy to have a duty to pick out a mate and crown him Alpha?" she cried. "Why should I confine my will or anyone else's to another one?" Li-ten looked at her in silence. "A large task indeed. One that requires careful consideration. Lucky you." he said with a sigh. Wha-tah glared at him. "Oh really?" she growled. "Do tell me how."

The black lion sighed again. "Phi-air is in charge of the fire, Wha-heen is in charge of the wind, Er-thean is the soil and you… you are the water. So what do I do other than put a charge to air." he moaned. Wha-tah looked at Li-ten. This could not be. They all had something to do. Then she pondered on her task. 'Perhaps you are to be Alpha and lead,' Wha-tah thought to herself. 'But then why ask me to choose?' So she sat there with Li-ten, watching the sky turn from day to night, hoping for an answer.

As the morning rose, she watched the other lions continue their usual routines. Wha-heen chasing whatever flew in the winds he created, Er-thean sleeping when he wasn't shaking and breaking the ground, Phi-air torching the ground and sending fire everywhere and Li-ten grunting over it all.

"Li-ten, why do you grunt so much?" Wha-tah asked. "I grunt because I find what the others do seem pointless." the black beast replied. "Everyday seems to same, nothing of worth is done. Er-thean is crushing good soil into rock only to break it into useless rubble. Phi-air burns good trees down and Wha-heen lets nothing rest."

"And what of me?" prodded the lioness. Li-ten looked at the cat lying beside him. "Well… you play a bit too much." he muttered. "Well… not as much as I seemed to make it sound," pawing the ground. Now it seemed to be Wha-tah's turn to chuckle. "Then perhaps I have an idea for your boredom. But it comes at a costs," she offered. The Black lion eyed the lioness. "So what is this Idea of your?" he asked, sensing what the cost might be. "I was told to choose of you male lions to be Alpha and lead this world to greatness," Wha-tah declared. "So… I choose you. Let's see if things will be better under your guidance."

"And what is the cost?" Li-ten asked.

"I will NOT be your mate," she smiled, and walked off.

Li-ten watched as she strutted off. 'Sure, she would not have me now,' he thought to himself. 'But one of these days, lioness, you will.'


End file.
